Simulation drills in China use nuclear anti-satellite weapon against space target Is Elon Musk’s Starlink a target?

In simulation drills, Chinese military scientists used a nuclear anti-satellite weapon to destroy satellites in near-Earth orbits, like the Starlink satellites belonging to Elon Musk’s SpaceX, per the latest report by the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

The scientists concluded that a nuclear blast in near space could form a radioactive cloud over an area as big as New York state that can cripple or destroy satellites in near-Earth orbit, writes Eurasian Times.

Researchers at the Northwest Institute of Nuclear Technology in Xian, run by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), claimed to have developed a model to estimate the range and scale of damage a nuclear anti-satellite weapon can cause at different altitudes and yields.

The findings by the researchers suggest that a 10-megaton warhead could create a severe threat to satellites if detonated at an altitude of 80 kilometres.

Such a nuclear blast is expected to turn air molecules into radioactive particles and produce a cloud with a shape similar to an upside-down pear, said nuclear physicist Liu Li and his colleagues in a paper published in the peer-reviewed journal Nuclear Techniques on October 15.

In five minutes, this cloud could rise to an altitude of nearly 500 kilometres and expand over an area exceeding 140,000 square kilometres.

“The strong residual radiation of the debris cloud may cause failures of spacecraft moving in it, such as satellites, or even cause direct damage that can lead to destruction,” the researchers said.

Liu’s team noted that there had been many computer simulations before that have studied the use of nuclear anti-satellite weapons in space. However, a nuclear detonation in space would not produce much of a cloud due to the absence of air.

According to Liu and his colleagues, the high-energy particles generated by the event would largely be captured by the Earth’s magnetic field and form a radiation belt around the globe, threatening a wide range of spacecraft, rendering nuclear weapons ineffective and very hazardous for anti-satellite purposes.

However, a detonation in near space would result in cloud formation because of the presence of air molecules. According to Liu, the cloud formed will be far greater in mass than the bomb itself.

Such a nuclear anti-satellite weapon would allow the PLA to cripple or destroy Starlink satellites positioned in Low-Earth Orbit (LEO), which has long been a concern for Chinese military planners.

In May, the official newspaper of the Chinese armed forces raised concerns about the risks associated with the Starlink satellite internet system, suggesting the US military could use it to dominate outer space.

“SpaceX has decided to increase the number of Starlink satellites from 12,000 to 42,000 – the program’s unchecked expansion and the company’s ambition to use it for military purposes should put the international community on high alert,” said the article on China Military Online, the official news website affiliated with the Central Military Commission (CMC), China’s highest national defence organization headed by President Xi Jinping.